ISL 2020-21: Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC - Who won the game yesterday?
Chennaiyin FC played Bengaluru FC in their third match of the Indian Super League 2020-21 (ISL) season. Both the teams are previous winners of the ISL. This season though, both teams haven't made a good start, by their lofty standards. Bengaluru FC failed to impress in their first two games, as they drew with FC Goa and Hyderabad FC.
Chennaiyin FC started the season with a win against Jamshedpur FC and then drew against Kerala Blasters. Clearly they needed to do a lot of work.
Yesterday, the game started with high intensity. But both the teams were reluctant in conceding, resulting in a cagey affair. The first half ended with the scoreboard reading nil-nil.
The second half saw both teams being more aggressive in their approach, which led to more openings. At full time, the scoreboard read Chennaiyin FC 0-1 Bengaluru FC. The Blues secured the victory with the help of a Sunil Chhetri penalty in the 58th minute.
Sunil the Savior for Bengaluru FC
Sunil Chhetri was in poor form in his first two games of the season. Today he had more part to play as he got more involved in the gam.
Bengaluru FC managed to get a penalty in the 56th minute when Edwin Vanspaul brought down Cleiton Silva inside the box. Sunil Chhetri made no mistake in scoring from the penalty spot. The goal proved to be the decisive strike of the game as Bengaluru FC defeated Chennaiyin FC 1-0.
Chennaiyin FC rue missed chances in defeat
By no means, Chennaiyin FC were pushovers as they fought bravely against Bengaluru FC. They created a lot of chances but had a poor day in front of the goal. Lallianzuala Chhangte and Esmael Goncalves created some excellent opportunities only to see the strikers waste them in front of the goal.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Bengaluru FC goalkeeper, denied Chennaiyin FC the chance to score with some good saves.
Csaba Laszlo will be hoping that his players don't keep wasting chances or else they will have to face a few more heartbreaks during the season.
Bengaluru FC remain unimpressive even in victory
With five points from three games, Bengaluru FC are fourth in the points table. They are yet to showcase their usual high-quality brand of football.
Their forward line has failed to live up to expectations, and this could be a cause of concern for Bengaluru FC. Their forward three have been so unimpressive that Carles Cuadrat decided to drop Indian national team winger Udanta Singh to the bench. Ashique is still getting used to his position at left-back, and it looks like he will need some time before he can get going.
An injury forced Chennaiyin FC to take off Anirudh Thapa which helped Bengaluru FC gain more space in the midfield.
Even in victory, Carles Cuadrat will have a lot to ponder upon if his side wants to reach the levels of their previous seasons.